[dannypgh]

The worst cases of people losing their shirt tend to be people speculating with options, and it's definitely up to the broker what options trades (beyond those secured by cash or securities) they want to permit their customers to do.

There are different levels of options trading for a reason. Giving level 3 options trading out to anyone is reckless; in the hands of many people these are tools that are pretty much being used for making leveraged speculative bets, not careful hedges of risk.